New Apple products for 2012: Speculation and wish list

[nwoods]

Chip, that was a great article, thanks for the link!

[Honu]

and more rumor info

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/10/...mini-surfaces/

[haven]

Here's an article that shows how Apple has stymied competitors by filling in all price points for the iPhone and iPod. They could do the same by introducing a less expensive (and probably smaller) version of the iPad.
http://www.iamconcise.com/main/the-r...ipad-mini.html

[4xdog]

Very interesting article, haven. That chart showing how Apple position themselves across the price bands makes a compelling argument for a smaller tablet -- the best argument I've seen yet.

Don

[haven]

Not that Apple is hurting for sales...For the April-June quarter, Apple reports it sold 17 million iPads and 28 million iPhones. The two device families generated $25 Billion in revenue. Including sales of iMac computers, Apple collected $35 billion in revenue, and booked a profit of $8.8 Billion. In 90 days!

Some analysts are calling these numbers an earnings disappointment, even though the results are up 18% from the same quarter last year, and the earnings are better than Apple's guidance. The analysts are complaining since the results are down from the January-March quarter, and below what analysts were predicting. Silly analysts.

[haven]

Here's an article that shows how important the iPhone and iPad have become to Apple's bottom line. Apple should rename itself "The iDevice Company!"
http://www.wingsofreason.com/2012/07...-2012-edition/

[haven]

Apple is expected to announce the next iPhone on or near Sept 12, with delivery starting later that month. The usual pundits are predicting the new iPhone will have the following features:

faster processor -- either the A5X from the current iPad, or a new design with four processor cores. Either will be based on the ARM Cortex-A9 design. (There probably hasn't been enough time to design and fabricate microprocessors based on the new Cortex-A15 design. Look for the A15 next Spring in the next iPad.)

4G LTE for cellular data -- this is a lock, since Verizon and AT&T have said they won't carry new phones that don't offer LTE

4 inch screen -- screen will have 1136x640 pixels, up from current 960x640. That's the right size for widescreen movies without letterboxing. The larger screen will allow 5 rows of app icons, instead of 4 rows in the current phone.

So the phone will be somewhat longer, but about the same width. The extra length makes room for a larger battery, needed by LTE and the faster processor.

iOS 6 -- a major makeover of the iPhone operating system

some form of NFC (near field communications) -- the Passbook feature of iOS 6 will be a great match with NFC

smaller dock connector -- goodbye 30 pin dock, hello 9 to 15 pin dock

smaller SIM card

some improvements to the rear-facing camera.

Any other improvements you'd like to see in the new iPhone?

Also rumored is an upgrade to the iPod Touch. The current Touch is like an iPhone 4, including the 960x640 Retina display, but without the cellular radio. Will Apple upgrade the Touch to be like the new iPhone, with longer screen and faster processor?

[haven]

The smaller iPad may also be announced in September. Or Apple may wait until October, which is still early enough for holiday sales.

Rather than call an iPad with a smaller screen the iPad Mini, James Kendrick of ZDNet thinks the new product should be called the iBook. This would emphasize that the small iPad is an Amazon Kindle Fire competitor, and it would inject new life into Apple's iBook service, which has been a bit of a flop. Pair the iBook with some special deals from textbook publishers, and school districts might be attracted.

http://www.zdnet.com/ipad-mini-nah-h...ok-7000002684/

[haven]

Apple is inviting the tech press to a meeting next week. Most observers think that Apple will announce a smaller version of the iPad. And the most common guess as to screen size is 7.85 inches. Here's how that could look, compared to 7 inch tablets like the Nexus 7, and to the full size iPad. (See below for link to the source of the image.)



It makes sense that Apple would leave the "tall and narrow" screen layout to the iPhone and iPod Touch, and retain the 4:3 screen ratio for the smaller iPad. That way, all magazines and publications that have been prepared for the original iPad will display properly on the smaller iPad. And the huge software library available for the iPad should run without issues.

The next iPad's screen is wider and taller than the typical 7 inch tablet, but I expect the bezel around the screen will be reduced. That will make the overall size of the next iPad be only a little larger than the 7 inch tablets. Since people often hold the tablet by grasping the bezel between thumb and fingers, it will be interesting to see if the smaller bezel poses any problems.

It seems likely to me that the next iPad will distinguish itself by being thinner and lighter than competitors' 7 inch tablets. That will make it easier to balance the next iPad in one hand.

Note I've said "next iPad" instead of the name commonly used in the press, "iPad Mini." I think Apple will use a different name, something like iPad Air, to emphasize the thin and light aspect. "Mini" makes me think of reduced capacity and performance, both of which should be on par with the current full size iPad.

Another way the next iPad will distinguish itself is by offering models with a cellular modem on board. Amazon's Kindle has WhisperNet, but it's not intended to be a way to access general information from the Internet.

Apple has had success selling its full size iPad at a higher price than competitors' Android tablets. It looks like tablets that run Windows RT and Windows 8 will be priced high, also (at least initially). So I don't expect the next iPad to be priced as low as the Amazon Kindle or Google Nexus 7 tablets. Fortunately, iPads and iPhones have held their value in the used marketplace, so you can recoup some of that extra investment when it comes time to sell in a year or two.

What are your thoughts about a smaller iPad?

(The image comes from a Gizmodo article, http://gizmodo.com/5924849/the-size-...nd-kindle-fire It appears that the original image comes from someone who posts as Trojan Kitten on Twitter. http://twitter.yfrog.com/h36j2np )

[Scott Brady]

I would like a smaller iPad. Having a Macbook Air, I would benefit more from a smaller, lighter iPad as both a reader and navigation tool.

I am also hoping to see a new Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro in the coming months - our office is in a holding pattern for all of these upgrades.